Lady s hoop-skirt



S. PEBERDY. 11001 SKIRT.

No. 22,197. Patented Nov: 30; 1858.

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uwu. wnnmowu a c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL PEBERDY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LADYS HOOP-SKIRT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 22,197, dated November 30, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL PEBERDY, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Ladies Skirts; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, inwhich A perspective view of a ladys skirt, con structed with myimprovement is exhibited.

The nature of my invention consists in constructing the expanding stayor support of ladies skirts of one continuous rod or strip of flexiblematerial which is bent and arranged spirally on the fabric constitutingthe skirt, or interwoven in a spiral with the same as shown in theaccompanying drawing, the spirals of the stay being of graduallydecreasing diameters from the bottom to the top of the skirt, as shown.By thus constructing the expanding stays or supports of ladies skirts, aconsiderable reduction in the first cost of manufacturing the same iseffected as the slides which are used for fastening the meeting ends ofthe hoop or circle stay are dispensed with and the labor and time ofapplying said slides and fastening the ends of the hoops are saved. Itis also found in practice that considerable saving in material as wellas time in manufacturing the stays is effected, as a complete skirthaving a given number of spirals can be produced from a shorter stripthan a stay formed of the same number of concentric circles or hoops, nooverlapping being necessary. It is likewise found that to manufactureskirts with a continuous spiral stay requires less labor and time bothin the preparation of the stays and the arrangement of the same on theskirt fabric as a less number of pieces have to be handled and adjusted.And in addition to the foregoing items which are by no means of slightimportance when we consider the fact that hundreds of dozens are made insome large factories per day.

Skirts made after my invention are more useful than those made on theordinary plan: 1st. Because they are stayed completely from top tobottom, just as perfectly as if perpendicular stays extending from topto bottom of the fabric were used. 2nd. Because when a lady sits down,if one of the spirals of the stay is collapsed, all the others aremutually affected, and one becomes a support for the other, andconsequently while in the act of sitting down, every part of the skirtyields at the same time or winds spirally around the body in a manner tocontract the diameter of the spirals and elongate the skirt and thusallow the wearer to sit comfortably and with a consciousness that herdress presents a rounding or symmetrical appearance on all sides and asall parts of the skirt yield together at the same time in sitting down,all necessarily regain their original and graceful appearance on againrising whereas it is found that when a series of separate hoopsconstitutes the stay, it is difficult to sit comfortably or have herdress present a 'graceful appearance, as one hoop yields or bendsindependently of another, and bulges out laterally from the body andgives a distorted appearance to a ladys dress and owing to the hoopsbeing capable of yielding separately they have no mutual support fromeach other and consequently when a lady sits down very often one or moreof the hoops are collapsed to such an extent that it becomes necessaryon her part in order to give her dress its original and symmetrical setto use her hands and adjust the hoops of her skirt.

The spiral stay B, is to be made of an unbroken or continuous springformed of one piece or by splicing a series of pieces together and woundfrom the bottom to the top of the body of the skirt continuously, thecontinuous spring may thus be extended from the bottom to the waist bandor, if preferred, additional hoops may be added as a bustle, in any ofthe well known modes to the top of the continuous stay, as shown in thedrawings. The stay may be either of elastic wood, whalebone, guttapercha, india rubber or metal and the skirt fabric A, may be woven ormade in one piece or of a series of pieces or of narrow strips in factafter any of the styles which may be in fashion.

That I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of a spiral stay B, with the fabric which constitutes aladys skirt, where said stay is formed by Winding a flexible strip orrod made of one piece or of a series of pieces spliced or unitedtogether continuously around the skirt from the bottom to the top of thebody of the same, sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

The above specification of my improvement in ladies skirts signed by methis seventh day of October, 1858.

hi SAMUEL PEBERDY.

mark Witnesses:

HUGH CLARK, GEORGE PEBERDY.

